If You Read One Thing…
It has to be this month’s Big Interview with Scottish radio and television presenter Jenni Falconer
JENNI FALCONER has been running for the last 25 years, but she’s not tired yet. Instead, she’s just thrilled that the rest of the world has finally caught up with her. The healthy-living TV presenter and DJ has spent most of her career getting up at the crack of dawn to sofa-it-up with pal Ben Shephard on GMTV or spin tunes on radio stations like Heart and Smooth FM – so she has long known the physical and mental benefits of the lycra lifestyle.
And now she’s more excited than ever to be at the forefront of a sport which has become fashionable at last – and even the rock stars are at it now.
“Everyone is really focusing on healthy living now,” Jenni says, “it’s the new cool. I’m really pleased, because I’ve just been running because that’s what I like. Suddenly it’s not square anymore.
“I did an interview with Tom Grennan the pop star – he’s rock n’ roll, in his 20s and plays the kind of music that in the 90s would have been called Britpop. Those musicians were all about drinking, drugs and going out back then, but interestingly, he’s really clean living, he gets up early and goes to the gym – his drug is fitness and he doesn’t really drink as such.
“He was telling me that even Liam Gallagher gets up every day to run and doesn’t drink, he’s all healthy. It’s so different to how it was in the 90s.”
Glasgow-born Jenni has been a runner since she was 19, and wasn’t much older when she started working in the media, and has been a fixture pretty much ever since. She famously appeared on Blind Date as a contestant, and was then recruited for various TV gigs across Scotland.
In 2000, she got her biggest break as part of the celeb
team for GMTV, joining a new line up that included the likes of Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway.
In a busy media career, her TV gigs down the years have included This Morning, National Lottery draws, I’m a Celebrity, Wordplay, and The Hour.
She’s currently hosting the breakfast show on radio station Smooth, having moved over from sister station Heart in January. She presents the 6am weekday morning show on Smooth London and the weekend morning show on Smooth across the UK – and she’s been loving the lie-in. She was accustomed to 2am starts in the past so loves the luxury.
“I love my lie in – that’s life changing. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of the new show and I’ve made some great friends there, I get on so well with the team – not that I’ve seen much of them for most of the year!”
And she has loved spending the mornings spinning tunes and chatting to star guests like John Legend, Boy George and Tony Hadley.
Rubbing shoulders with stars, virtually or in person, doesn’t faze her though. Showbiz has been a part of her everyday life since she first set her GMTV alarm clock one morning 20 years ago and soon found herself in the same room as a group of Hollywood legends.
“Clint Eastwood was one of the most exciting moments. I was 24, it was my first big interview and I had found out I was gonna fly to Venice to interview Clint Eastwood, James Garner and Donald Sutherland.”
The Hollywood veterans were promoting their 2000 movie Space Cowboys, and Jenni said they couldn’t have been more gentlemanly.
“I’d grown up watching these guys’ movies and this was pretty cool. They could tell I was nervous, so they really took me under their wing and they were amazing.
“I’d never experienced the movie junket scenario before, and it was fascinating to see how all that worked – admittedly they don’t always happen in the
Cipriani hotel in Venice, but it was amazing to get such wonderful interviews.
“One year I was going out to New York three times a month, flying out Friday, interviewing film stars and back Sunday. At one stage I was able to go shopping there one weekend and return something the following weekend after finding out it didn’t fit.”
Jenni, like most of us, hasn’t been holidaying across any kind of oceans lately never mind commuting across them, but she has spent the past year being thankful for what she has rather than missing what she doesn’t have.
She spent lockdown in her London family home with actor husband James Midgely and 10-year-old daughter Ella, and they got stuck into exercise. But even when she overdid it on her feet, she found clever ways to adapt.
“I had a stress fracture in the third metatarsal of my foot after doing a lot of running during lockdown. There was a combination of weak glutes and weak calves, because I was doing no strength work.
“I would go out with my daughter Ella and I’d put on my classy moon boot and use a scooter – I’d scoot along and she’d jog beside me, and the dog would come along as well.
“It’s good that we can all do stuff together and it’s so important with a family that we focus on being healthy. I was the only adult in the park on a scooter but it was the only way I could keep up with them.”
Her giant moon boot look was also good for radio station paparazzi. She was often pictured coming in and out of her studios at Global Radio HQ in London looking glam, despite her medical footwear, and said it made a change from her usual work outfit of running gear and trainers.
“The photographers are there every day and
“I’d me” scoot along and she’d jog beside
sometimes focused on who else is in the building,” Jenni says. “Amanda Holden is on at exactly the same time, and she’s probably who they’re after.
“Because I had a broken foot, I’ve been wearing non-lycra so maybe they’re like, ‘Wow suddenly she’s in other clothes, take a picture.’
“One day I came to work in exactly the same dress as Amanda Holden, I hadn’t even seen her that morning, and people were going ‘who wore it best’ – I mean, she didn’t have the support boot on so already she was winning in my eyes. It’s funny, and it’s lovely if anything can bring more attention to the show.”
With her cast and boot now off, Jenni won’t be taking her running for granted anytime soon.
She’s cleverly managed to incorporate her number one pastime into her career in recent years, with a very successful podcast, Runpod, and new app Start to Run Coach. She also took the plunge during lockdown to launch her first business, health supplement Kollo – a collagen and vitamin-based product.
“I never set out to be well-known for running, I just absolutely love it – I enjoy doing it, I enjoy talking about it with other people, but more than anything I really enjoy encouraging other people to give it a shot.
“More people than ever were taking it up during lockdown and seeing that it’s a different way to get fit – it’s free, you get fresh air, you get time out and you get to be stress free.”
She also loves hearing the moving stories that come in via her podcast.
“I’m not necessarily the best running role model – I’m no Paula Radcliffe. But I hope the fact that I enjoy myself and get so much out of it can help inspire someone else to think there might be something for them in this running malarkey.
“I’ve had quite a few nice stories and messages
“I hope the fact that I enjoy running inspires else” someone